Seth Williams: From District Attorney to Advocate for Change

From District Attorney to Federal Prison

Seth Williams had quite the Wikipedia page. First African-American district attorney in Philadelphia history, Georgetown Law graduate, Army JAG officer, civil rights activist. Then the nightmare began.

“I lost my reputation I lost my law license I lost my pension I lost my house I lost my military career um time with loved ones um I lost all of those things,” Seth told me when we talked on the podcast. But here’s what makes his story different from most white-collar cases. Seth went to trial.

Ninety-seven percent of people who get indicted take a plea deal. Seth didn’t. Not at first. He fought federal charges around undisclosed gifts and misuse of his city vehicle for eight days in court before reaching a plea agreement. He got five years in federal prison.

The whole mess started with enemies Seth had made as DA. He’d prosecuted the Catholic Church hierarchy for shielding pedophile priests. He’d gone after organized crime. He’d disciplined employees who later turned against him. “There was an employee we had to separate we had to discipline him because he had sexually assaulted there was an allegation of sexual assault um and we disciplined him um and he said that if he didn’t get the specific job he had back that he was going to drop dime on me,” Seth explained.

The Pressure of Being First

Seth wasn’t prepared emotionally for being DA, even though he thought he was ready strategically. “I’m a person maybe as a result of the adoption and I’m a people pleaser yeah and I want to I don’t want to upset people,” he said.

The adoption piece runs deep. Seth found out when he was eleven that his parents, Rufus and Imelda Williams, had adopted him at birth. His father was a school teacher and recreation center coach who dedicated his life to kids. His mother was the executive secretary to the commanding officer at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. All five feet of her.

But learning about the adoption created what Seth calls “a serious sense of abandonment and rejection.” That drove him to achieve. Class president in fifth grade. Student body president at Penn State representing 37,000 students. Leading a 102-mile march from Penn State to Harrisburg to push for divestment from companies supporting apartheid in South Africa.

When he became DA at 42, managing 600 employees and a $55 million budget, that people-pleasing tendency became a problem. Especially when you’re making enemies prosecuting powerful people and institutions.

The Isolation of White-Collar Crime

What struck me about Seth’s perspective is how isolated white-collar defendants are compared to other criminals. “The people that I prosecuted or the people that I defended um had made a conscious decision to get into whatever the criminal Endeavor they were in but they knew people that had also made that decision,” he said. “When you watch the mafia movies they go to prison they know how to take care of the person’s family while they’re gone yeah right well it’s the exact opposite for White Collar criminals.”

When you become the subject of a federal investigation, everyone runs. “People that you might have considered your uh Associates colleagues um all high,” Seth said. That’s why he now participates in Jeff Grant’s Monday evening support group for white-collar defendants. You need people who understand.

The gifts that got Seth in trouble weren’t bribes. Friends with money would say hey, come to our house at the shore. Use our place in San Diego. We have airline points about to expire. Seth thought since there was no quid pro quo, no cases being influenced, it was fine. But in Philadelphia, anything over fifty dollars from anyone other than immediate family has to be disclosed. Period.

“I could have received unlimited gifts I just had to disclose them so that then the public for transparency can make a decision,” Seth explained. He didn’t disclose them. That was the violation.

The Federal System Reality

Seth references a book called “Three Felonies a Day” about how federal authorities can prosecute almost anyone if they want to. “If the federal authorities want to prosecute anyone um they have the resources and the ability to take something before a grand jury where you might not have had any Criminal Intent nope you’re right no mensarea for Crime but something did happen yeah um and they can get almost anyone indicted.”

During his second week of trial, Seth’s lawyer gave him a choice that puts the federal system’s pressure in perspective. He could plead to one count and see his daughters graduate high school, or keep fighting and maybe see them after college. Seth took the plea.

He ended up serving time with mostly drug dealers, many on what he calls “ghost drug cases.” The federal system pulls in a lot of people who wouldn’t traditionally be considered dangerous criminals. Seth learned this firsthand.

Now Seth works in reentry, helping people navigate coming home from federal prison. He’s using his legal background and lived experience to guide others through the system he once prosecuted in and later experienced as a defendant. The guy who lost everything is building something new from what he learned.